Chapter 600: Extreme Cold Dragon

After the explosion, the ground began to tremble, and an avalanche started.

More terrifying was the enormous silhouette flying above the avalanche.

"It's here."

Loren looked up, unable to see the creature's whole form.

Before it fully arrived, its dragon breath, which blotting out the sky, was already spewing down.

The dragon breath was blood-colored, which confirmed to Loren that it was indeed the Extreme Cold Dragon.

Loren raised Requiem to block, but in an instant the blood-colored breath froze him solid, and the flames about his body were extinguished.

At the same time, the Extreme Cold Dragon landed in front of Loren just before the avalanche hit. The avalanche crashed into its body but could not move it an inch.

Through the blood-colored ice, Loren still could not make out the dragon's appearance, so he swung his fist.

The ice shattered instantly, Loren's flames reignited, and his punch followed through.

A single punch that could turn others into a blood fog was casually blocked by the Extreme Cold Dragon with a raised hand.

Loren was not surprised; he knew the Extreme Cold Dragon was powerful, and his deadliest moves were on his blade. It made sense that his fists couldn't cause real harm.

At the same time, the dragon once again aimed its neck at Loren.

The Extreme Cold Dragon had no head; its dragon breath spewed from the severed throat on its neck, which explained the blood color.

Its head had been severed long before this place became the Lost Snow Mountains by a knight.

"Beast-Cleaver!"

Before the dragon breath could erupt, Loren leaped high, Requiem in hand.

This move, like his "Intentional Bombard Punch," was Loren's own technique, designed specifically to deal with giant beasts like the Extreme Cold Dragon.

The dragon sensed the attack's terror and hurriedly stopped its breath, shielding itself with its wings.

As Requiem descended, it continued to grow. The sword intent it extended solidified, eventually reaching a full fifty meters in length.

This move was hard to land on ordinary people, but devastating against giant beasts.

For reference, aside from the disgraceful Murmuring Dragon, a typical adult dragon's length is around twenty meters.

The Extreme Cold Dragon exceeded ordinary adult size by more than five times. Even if Requiem plunged directly into it, it would be little more than a spear.

When the gigantic Requiem sliced into the Extreme Cold Dragon, the whole mountain shook, and creatures outside the Lost Snow Mountains instinctively moved away.

Even when enlarged, Requiem's terrifying sharpness remained effective.

Previously, Loren only had ten points in Strength, yet could still instantly kill with Requiem's sharpness—let alone now, when Loren had allocated most of his Intelligence into Strength.

The dragon's wings were wrapped in solid ice; ordinary attacks couldn't scathe them at all. Now, however, they were cut apart like hot knife through butter by Loren.

"Beast-Cleaver!"

At decisive moments, Loren never used flashy combo moves—he simply spammed the most effective one.

The second strike severed the Extreme Cold Dragon's forelimbs.

"Beast-Cleaver!"

Loren barely reset his stance before the third slash swept through, cutting the dragon's hind legs off as well.

By now the Extreme Cold Dragon had abandoned defense, aiming its neck straight at Loren as its dragon breath began to gather.

"Beast-Cleaver!"

Loren's fourth strike plunged straight into the dragon's neck, then he brought the blade down hard. The Extreme Cold Dragon was ripped open, gutted in an instant.

"Beast-Cleaver!"

The fifth cut Loren made was behind him, chopping the incoming dragon head in two.

The Extreme Cold Dragon's head had been severed, but the head was still "alive" and would help its body continue hunting.

"What a waste, so many good things, all squandered."

Only after Loren fully cleaved the Extreme Cold Dragon did Requiem return to its normal size.

Ordinary dragon blood and dragon scales were already excellent materials, not to mention those from an Extreme Cold Dragon.

Unfortunately, they were all contaminated and unusable, and Loren couldn't take them away anyway.

But Loren only needed the heart. Even if the heart was polluted, the ritual could still use it.

After all, the Severance Ritual likely targets the Final Singer, and even if the Final Singer consumed the Outer Gods directly, it would not be tainted—after all, it is on the same level as the Perpetual Observer.

"Next, there are other things to face."

The Extreme Cold Dragon had been killed, but Loren knew it was not over; he was about to face the BOSS's second phase.

The next moment, Loren heard the dragon's heart begin to pound violently, almost leaping from its body.

Loren took a deep breath, drew Bloody Battle, and held twin blades.

The instant he drew his sword, the dragon's skin ruptured and something burst out of its heart.

The thing moved at incredible speed—top-tier experts might not even see it—but facing it was Loren.

Loren raised Bloody Battle, metal ringing, and then the high-speed entity revealed itself.

It was a knight, tall and broad, wielding a greatsword far longer than his own height, now locked in a stalemate with Loren. For a moment, the knight's strength suppressed Loren, and the greatsword crept toward Loren's head.

Loren didn't know how the knight had ended up inside the dragon's heart. Perhaps after killing the dragon he crawled in because he was cold, or maybe the dragon mutated first and swallowed the exhausted knight.

But Loren knew one thing: the Extreme Cold Dragon had seemed weak because it had diverted most of its energy to suppressing the knight inside its heart.

Now that the dragon was dead, nothing remained to suppress the Dragon-Slaying Knight.

Before the knight's greatsword could descend, Loren swung Requiem.

"Throat-Severing Slash!"

The strike was lightning-fast, but the knight's reaction was equally fast.

He deflected the greatsword and parried Requiem.

Despite wielding a greatsword, his agility was frightening.

Before Loren could bring out a second blade, the knight had swung his greatsword and knocked Loren back.

Being crushed by such force felt miserable, but Loren had no choice but to fight up close.

"You were a hero, but since you're already dead, that doesn't stop me from disgusting you."

The knight clearly couldn't understand Loren, and in an instant charged forward again. He brought his blade down; Loren raised his sword to block, yet this time he didn't lock in—he deflected and quickly created distance.

Loren's speed was still far behind the knight's. Though he held a greatsword, the knight moved outrageously fast; Loren could only desperately defend.

At one point, the knight's greatsword struck Loren and pierced through his body, yet Loren remained entirely unharmed.

"I'm used to your speed now."

Once he adapted to the knight's tempo, Loren activated Void-walking so he wouldn't get stuck in the greatsword when his body de-virtualized.

The knight's greatsword had just hit the ground when Loren swung Requiem.

This time, the knight had no time to parry.